


Reunion

by dreamlittleyo



Category: Tron: Legacy (2010)
Genre: M/M, Post-Movie(s), Pre-Slash, Returning to the Grid, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 05:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5856172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamlittleyo/pseuds/dreamlittleyo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam Flynn doesn't know what to expect when he returns to the Grid.</p><p>[<a href="http://dreamlittleyo.livejournal.com/249274.html">Prompt: Sam/Tron, Reunion</a>]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reunion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [deirdre_c](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deirdre_c/gifts).



Sam Flynn doesn't know what to expect when he returns to the Grid. He's been repairing it from his home console for months, reassembling fractured code line-by-line and praying all the while that his efforts are actually working.

It might be faster to simply go inside—to work on everything from within the system itself—but there are two reasons he doesn't.

The first is practical. He can't zap himself inside the computer without a laser array, and he doesn't exactly have one of those lying around. There's the device beneath Flynn's Arcade, but that laser is almost as old as Sam. Sure, it got him in and out in one piece before. But Sam's not enough of an idiot to chance it again, especially when he doesn't know what he would be stepping into. Quorra would certainly be willing to monitor him from above, but Quorra can't repair a laser if it punks out while Sam is inside. Anything more adventurous will have to wait until he can get his hands on more reliable equipment.

The second reason is entirely personal: Sam is scared. He'll get over it eventually. Every line of code he repairs from the outside brings him closer to ready, and in any case the Grid itself is more stable with each passing day.

He keeps searching for Tron in the lines of fractured code, in every program and process he repairs. He finds no sign of the security program, and Tron's absence gnaws at him. His dad's stories are vivid in Sam's memory. He can't picture the Grid without Tron.

It's Alan Bradley who eventually obtains the equipment Sam needs to go back inside. Alan isn't happy about it, but he doesn't try to argue Sam out of anything. Probably he knows better. And maybe, on some level, Alan wants closure, too.

Kevin Flynn is gone, but Sam still needs to see the Grid with his own eyes. He needs to feel the surreal rush of code over his own skin and be _sure_ , because until he gets down there and breathes the code from the inside he'll wonder. Quorra comes inside with him. Sam would've expected her to be hesitant—after all, it nearly cost her life getting out in the first place—but she just gives him a placid smile and says, "I've got your back, Sam."

Alan stays behind to monitor the equipment and watch line after line of code scroll across the computer screen. All he says before activating the laser sequence is, "Be careful in there."

There's no sign of Kevin Flynn. Sam and Quorra set down on an empty bridge, all high railings and lighted panels along the ground. Sam glances at the endless dark of the sky, and he simply _knows_. His dad isn't here. The place feels complete but empty.

No, Sam realizes. Not empty exactly. Aside from the bustle of programs moving and meandering beneath the bridge—far fewer than he remembers from his previous visit, but then the damage of reintegration was extensive—Sam feels a more familiar presence. It itches along his skin and prickles at the back of his neck, and he lowers his gaze from the sky in confusion.

"What's wrong, Sam?" Quorra asks.

"Nothing." Sam's brow furrows, though, and he takes his hands off the bridge railing, turns his back on the bustle below. There's someone standing at the center of the bridge. The program wears armor with blue-lighted panels. A dark helmet covers the program's face, but somehow Sam recognizes the figure anyway.

"Tron," he breathes, squeezing a lifetime of hope into that one syllable.

The helmet retracts, and for a moment Sam is jarred by the resemblance to Alan. There's no mistaking Tron for Alan, despite the resemblance. Aside from the unnatural stillness of Tron's smooth face, Sam's never seen Alan Bradley look so eerily, impossibly young.

Quorra hangs back when Sam moves to cross the bridge, though he senses readiness in her posture. She's poised for battle, just in case. But Sam doesn't think it's a fight Tron is here for.

"Sam Flynn," Tron says softly when Sam gets close. "I thought it must be you repairing the Grid."

Sam's chest goes inexplicably tight at the fact that Tron recognizes him. The program wasn't exactly himself when their paths crossed before. Suddenly he's standing before Sam as strong and familiar as if he's stepped straight out of Kevin's stories. It doesn't matter that Sam has never really met Tron before. He's known this program his entire life.

"I'm glad to see you," Sam says. And then, the furrow at the center of his brow deepening with fresh confusion, "You shouldn't be here."

Tron cocks his head to one side without speaking.

"I've been looking for you. In Dad's code. I couldn't find any sign of you."

"I'm right here, Sam Flynn."

"Yeah," Sam agrees. "You really are." It's not just that he can see Tron standing before him; he can _feel_ him, like a physical presence in the invisible matrix that surrounds him. It's not that Sam's missed some line of code, either. He's sure of it. But here Tron stands anyway, perfect and impossible. Something completely apart from the raw code of the Grid.

He's startled—maybe shocked is a better word—when Tron strides forward and tucks Sam hard against his chest in a fierce and crushing hug. Sam breathes an embarrassing sound of surprise, and his face heats as his chest floods with all the wrong feelings. The lines of Tron's combat suit do nothing to disguise the feeling of firm muscle beneath, pressing close in all the right places. Sam forces his mind along lighter paths. He does his best to return the embrace without making things awkward.

When Tron releases him a moment later the placid expression has been replaced by something that almost looks like mischief. Sam's probably imagining the spark of heat in the program's eyes, but there's definitely no mistaking the quirk at the corner of Tron's mouth.

Tron's gaze shifting confuses Sam for a moment, until he realizes Quorra has drawn close to his side. Protective and cautious.

"Come." Tron's mouth widens into a soft, real smile as he turns to descend the bridge. "There is much to see."


End file.
